Is it Tuesday Already? What I've Been Up To....

Ok....so it's Tuesday already!
I think I lost a day somewhere between Friday and now.
The weekend was  nuts with teens going here and teens going there and teens packing to leave for summer jobs, and school ending and on & on & on.
DH got the fencing up late Saturday around the garden beds much to the consternation of the resident rabbit.

Sunday DH and I had a date of sorts.  There is something around these parts called a "Chinese Auction"(not a very PC name for it however).  It also goes by the names Tricky Tray, or Basket Auction or Penny Social depending on the types of prizes.  It's gambling.  Not Bingo, Bunco or Poker but it's still a game of chance.....and some people find it highly addictive anyway.

The good thing about these auctions is that these are held as fundraisers for local non-profit organizations.  The group will get members and/or local businesses to donate prizes.  The prizes can be new items, they can be used items, or they can be a whole basket of prizes depending on the set-up.  The prizes can also be food or services as well(these are the kind I like).
 
Basically you buy sheets of little tickets with numbers on them.  Each sheet has 25 tickets or so plus a larger ticket that you hold onto.  All of the tickets have the same number on them and that number is unique from every other sheet of numbers.
The prizes are set out where the auction is being held, with bags or coffee cans next to each prize.  If you see a prize you want to win, you take as many of your tickets as you want & put them into the corresponding bag or can for that prize.  After about 2 hrs. of folks putting tickets in the cans/bags, the folks running the auction draw a numbered ticket out of the can/bag and whoever is holding that number wins the prize!
DH & I go to this particular Auction every year when they hold it in June.  All monies raised go to support a local fire company.

DH use to never win anything when we went but I guess my know-how or dumb luck has finally rubbed off on him.
Here is what we hauled home this year.....

Oops....forgot this item in the shot....

DH won 5 times and I won 12 times.  Well actually, we have a dispute on the ratio of mine/his winnings since one of the things I won for him but he says if I hadn't put tickets in for that item, he would have won it himself anyway.....so it's him 6/me 11 or him 5/me 12 wins. lolol

Sometimes it gets nuts at these auctions with all the people crammed in and the yelling and jostling about.  More often than naught I find myself winning something I don't even remember putting a ticket in for....like that Getty 2001 Fire Engine. Doh!

DH won a dress shirt(in his size) and a set of thermal underwear in #1 son's size which he'll be needing this winter back at school near Lake Erie.   DH also won a nice set of suede leather work gloves, some candles, a set of earphones and a jar of a locally-made specialty called Hot Sauce(it's more like Skyline Chili Sauce).
I always focus on the restaurant and services prizes....those are all those envelopes over on the left in the photo.  This year I won some free pizzas, a custom printed t-shirt, credit at a book store(for DH), $30 in hair services so I can get my hair cut, a sports shop gift card(for #2 son), gift cards to 3 other restaurants, free bowling passes & tickets for a Childrens Museum.  I've won gas station gift cards, theatre tickets, tickets to a concert, horseback riding and on and on in the past.  You just never know what goodies they will have each year.
When you add up the value of all we win, we always win at least double what we spend on the tickets.  We budget for the spending on this event every year so it's a planned expense(in case we don't win anything).  It usually costs us the equivalent of a nice restaurant meal.  We always make out like bandits in the prize dept. and the group raises cash for their cause, plus we have a good time! 

Monday rolled around and it was finally time for 2 of the teens to leave for their summer job training.  I don't know if I was happier to see them leave or they were happier to leave.lol
Of course, neither of them called me when they got there safely!!  We had to call them  & got through 11 hours after they left here!  The excuse why they didn't call?......they had no minutes left on their phones.  Right.....they were too busy using those minutes up with their friends and that's why we couldn't get through and our calls went to voice mail....if they would have been here I would have STRANGLED them!!!   (And no, they don't talk and drive.  They took turns driving so they could each blab on their phones in the passenger seat when not driving.)

The Good News is....I am down to 1 teen for the next week. 8-))
The Bad News is....Of course there is #2 son's buddy down the street who practically lives here during the summer and that kid's step brother from TX who spends a large chunk of the summer here too, so really, I still have 3 teens to deal with. 8-((

In 1 week #2 son will be going to attend camp for 2 weeks and daughter will be coming home from training for 2 weeks, until her employment time starts up.  I have a chart on the fridge to keep straight which teens are here which weeks for the summer to keep from overtaxing my brain.  I check the chart each morning to figure out which teen(s) are home and oversleeping before I start hollering names.

I spent most of Monday doing all the dirty laundry & dishes they left for me and forming a plan of attack for cleaning up things here.  I need to find my Summer Groove, ya know?

I also need to get some photos of the garden beds.  It rained bucket loads here on Sunday and lots of stuff shot up.  The weeds seem to have grown at twice the rate of the plants I WANT to grow however.
Ugh.

I still don't have a meal plan for this week.  The last 5 weeks having #1 son home put a big dent into my freezer stockpile.  I am considering eating it down so I can fit everything into the freezer compartment on the refrigerator and defrosting the freezer in the garage.  It's due and now that the turkey is out of there I might be able to empty it fully.
Speaking of turkey.....can I talk turkey with you now?lol, I need to figure out some way to serve the leftover turkey meat.  I am NOT a big fan of leftover turkey.....call me weird if you must!  It has a smell I don't like.  I guess I can hold my nose to eat it.  I have an old recipe called "Chicken & Stuffing Casserole".  DH likes it(heck, he likes everything!lol)so maybe I'll make a Turkey variations with the leftovers.  Or I could do a Turkey a la King.    Or Turkey and Dumplings.....oh, I'll come up with something.
Anyone have any suggestions besides Tetrazzini?(not a fan of that one).....

Sluggy